Category Archives: Live

LIVE 129 • Rumble (Link Wray, Solo Ukulele)

Classic Rock, Live, Ukulele, , , , , , , , ,

The restless crowd.  The slit in the speaker cone.  The distortion.  The rock glory.  One of the most influential guitar songs ever, the story of Link Wray’s “Rumble” is the stuff of legend.  I’ve always loved the song, and have covered it on guitar (and taught it as a guitar teacher), but something made me want to try it on uke to see if some of the attitude would still filter through – regardless of the instrument.  I think it does.  Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Pono Acacia Tenor Deluxe (ATD) ukulele and a Line Audio CM4 microphone.

LIVE 124 • Bantry Girl’s Lament (912ce)

Fingerstyle, Live, , , , , , , , , ,

The Bantry Girl’s Lament is a traditional Celtic song which dates back to the early 1800’s.  The ‘lament’ is for the soldiers who were called off to fight in the Napoleonic wars, but I find the melody is more wistful than maudlin.  My fingerstyle version is based on Martin Simpson’s version from his fine album “Leaves of Life.”  While Martin used a Drop D tuning for the song (or rather its equivalent on Baritone guitar), I play it here in open G6: (D-G-D-G-B-E).  To me, this is a peaceful, meditative song that gives pause.  Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 912ce (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD Light strings) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.

76 Minutes Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Covers

Fingerstyle, Live, Slack Key

This video features a collection of Ki Ho’alu a/k/a Hawaiian Slack Key guitar instrumental covers I have performed, recorded, and assembled here for your listening pleasure.  These are songs by various slack key legends such as Gabby Pahinui, Ray Kane, Leonard Kwan, Keola Beamer, Fred Punahoa, Sonny Chillingworth, Atta Isaacs, Dennis Kamakahi, and Ledward Ka’apana – all slack key guitar masters who have been influential to me as well as many others.  This compilation includes both energetic and relaxed tunes, though I’d say the overall vibe is relaxing.  I like to listen to  some of those longer “relaxing music” videos while working on the computer and became inspired to produce some videos featuring my own performances.  Hope you enjoy.

LIVE 133 • Meadows Slack Key (912ce)

Live, Slack Key, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“Meadows” is a slack key song I wrote during a full moon in Kailua-Kona.  I think the song was influenced by the night air and night sounds – the occasional chirp of geckos, the distant sounds of traffic on Mamalahoa Highway and the waves in the ocean.  Hope you enjoy.  

Recorded with a Taylor 912ce (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD Light strings) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone. 

LIVE 126 • Opihi Moemoe (improv on K22ce)

Live, Slack Key, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Here’s a recently found recording where I’m improvising some ideas around Leonard Kwan’s classic slack key song Opihi Moemoe.  One of the most popular songs in the slack key repertoire, this song has been covered by everyone from Ledward Kaapana to Chet Atkins.  Opihi MoeMoe is a fun piece that lends itself well to improvised variations, and everyone seems to bring something a little different to this deceptively simple song.  Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor K22ce (solid koa grand concert with Elixir HD Light gauge set) and an Ear Trumpet Labs “Edwina” microphone.

LIVE 125 • Bach Cello Suite #1 Prelude (Alt Take)

Live, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Here is an alternate take of the Bach Cello Prelude (BWV 1007) on guitar.  I fell in love with the Pablo Casals recordings of the Bach cello suites a few years back.  The prelude to the first suite is oft adapted for guitar, but it’s still a great piece to play.  Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 912ce (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD Light strings) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.

LIVE 134 • Every Breath You Take by The Police

Classic Rock, Live, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Here is a fingerstyle cover of “Every Breath You Take,” the hypnotic signature tune from The Police.  Many stories surround the writing, recording, and subsequent success of the song – for example one interesting tidbit is that Sting apparently wrote the song while sitting at Ian Fleming’s writing desk on his famous Goldeneye estate in Jamaica.  With its classic guitar part, “Every Breath” has a mellow / dreamy feel seemingly at odds with its borderline creepy lyrics – though some may find the song is a tad less sinister as an instrumental 🙂  Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) a single Beyerdynamic MC 930 microphone in Honolulu, Hawai’i 8/25/14.

LIVE 122 • Fronds in the Wind (alt take)

Live, Slack Key, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Here is an alternate take of a slack key song I wrote called “Fronds in the Wind.”  Hope you enjoy. 

Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone in Honolulu, Hawai’i 11/23/15.

LIVE 113 • Meadows

Live, Slack Key, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“Meadows” is an original song I wrote during a full moon in Kailua-Kona.  I think the song was influenced by the night air and night sounds – the occasional chirp of geckos, the distant sounds of traffic on Mamalahoa Highway and the waves in the ocean.  This version was probably recorded within a year of when I wrote it.  Hope you enjoy.  

Recorded with a Taylor 310ce (Sapele/Spruce, Elixir Polyweb 80/20 Bronze) and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM141 microphones in Holualoa, Hawai’i, 10/9/07.